According to the police, the encounter started last night in Malwa area (Representational photo)
A top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander is among two terrorists killed during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district.
According to the police, the encounter started last night in Malwa area. In the initial shootout, three soldiers were injured.
The killed Lashkar commander has been identified as Yousuf Kantroo, who according to the police was involved in multiple killings of civilians and security forces personnel in Budgam and Baramulla districts.
Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police, called the killing of Kantroo a major success.
"Top LeT terrorist Commander Yousuf Kantroo killed in Baramulla encounter. He was involved in several killings of civilians and SFs personnel including recent killing of JKP's SPO and his brother, one soldier and one civilian in Budgam district. A big success for us," said Mr Kumar.
According to the police, around 70 terrorists have been killed since January this year as security forces have intensified the offensive against terrorism.
But despite frequent encounters and killing of terrorists, there has been spurt in terrorist attacks in the Valley.
A number of people including four Panchayat members have been killed in targetted attacks since last month.
Security forces have been put on high alert in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on Sunday.